#border wall
The U.S./Mexico border wall wouldn’t just cost us billions of dollars — the human cost, in tribal lands divided, families torn apart, and lives lost in dangerous border crossings — would be immense. http://fal.cn/r0LW#NoBanNoWall
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Trump’s border wall is a bad idea, and we have the receipts to prove it.
Republicans had full control of Congress for two years and never approved Trump’s border wall. We had an election last November and voters rejected the GOP approach. To shut down the government now to build a wall is effectively to stage a coup to overturn the will of the people.
AlthoughPresident Trump cites drugs passing over the U.S.’s southern border as a major justification for erecting a border wall, new data shows that, since the legalization of marijuana, drug flow over the border has substantially decreased and fewer drugs are entering where a border wall would matter.
Because it is difficult to conceal, marijuana is the main drug transported between ports of entry where a border wall would matter. However, Border Patrol seizure figures demonstrate that marijuana flows have fallen continuously since 2014, when states began to legalize marijuana. After decades of no progress in reducing marijuana smuggling, the average Border Patrol agent between ports of entry confiscated 78% less marijuana in fiscal year (FY) 2018 than in FY 2013.
As a result, the value of all drugs seized by the average agent has fallen by 70% since FY 2013. Without marijuana coming in between ports of entry, drug smuggling activity now primarily occurs at ports of entry, where a border wall would have no effect. In FY 2018, the average inspector at ports of entry made drug seizures that were three times more valuable overall than those made by Border Patrol agents between ports of entry — a radical change from 2013 when Border Patrol agents averaged more valuable seizures. This is because smugglers bring mainly hard drugs through ports. By weight, the average port inspector seized 8 times more cocaine, 17 times more fentanyl, 23 times more methamphetamine, and 36 times more heroin than the average Border Patrol agent seized at the physical border in early 2018.
Given these trends, a border wall or more Border Patrol agents to stop drugs between ports of entry makes little sense. State marijuana legalization starting in 2014 did more to reduce marijuana smuggling than the doubling of Border Patrol agents or the construction of hundreds of miles of border fencing did from 2003 to 2009.
As more states — particularly on the East Coast — legalize marijuana in 2019, these trends will only accelerate. The administration should avoid endangering this success and not prosecute state-legal sellers of marijuana. This success also provides a model for addressing illegal immigration. Just as legalization has reduced the incentives to smuggle marijuana illegally, greater legal migration opportunities undercut the incentive to enter illegally. Congress should recognize marijuana legalization’s success and replicate it for immigration.
During his campaign, Donald Trump vowed to aggressively ramp up immigration enforcement by implementing “extreme vetting,” building a wall along the southern border, cracking down on so-called “sanctuary cities,” and creating a “deportation force.” President Trump and his allies took steps to implement some of these proposals shortly after his inauguration. There are ample reasons for concern over how such efforts will impact America’s law enforcement agencies and Americans’ civil liberties.
In order to be effective, the president’s proposals require the federal government to gather more information about American citizens. Border Patrol will increase its presence both at the border and at interior checkpoints, inconveniencing Americans and foreigners alike. Immigration law enforcement officials will exploit the lack of privacy protections at the border, leading to citizens being pressured into providing authorities with access to their electronic devices. The federal government will increase surveillance and explore new tools, such as facial-recognition drones. Federal immigration officials will expand databases and include biometric information on both visitors and American citizens.
Although the president could take steps to reverse many of the damaging features of his immigration policy, such a reversal is unlikely. However, policymakers can mitigate the risks of the immigration agenda by strengthening legal protections on the border and limiting federal involvement in state and local policing.
The Truth Doesn’t Have Time for Your Bullshit, Donald Trump
This amazing short film by The Intercept’s Josh Begley uses 200,000 satellite images of the entire border to capture both its immensity and its beauty.
“By focusing on the physical landscape, I hope viewers might gain a sense of the enormity of it all, and perhaps imagine what it would mean to be a political subject of that terrain,” writes Begly.
With Trump in office and talk of the “border wall” being played out on the national stage, it’s a good time to remember the words of author Gloria Anzaldúa: “This land was Mexican once, was Indian always and is. And will be again.”
Beyond the wall: Dogs, blimps and other things used to secure the border
Regardless of what “the wall” is made of or how much more of it is ever built, it will always be just one of many instruments in the toolbox of security measures on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Here’s a look at the different tools used to secure the border. Click here to read more.
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What a piece of work. How can this monster call himself a Christian. This is just the tip of the iceberg with this hate monger. Oh yeah, and he’s anti-vax and anti-mask.
At the wall.
Near Los Campos, CA, 2021.
This is why we separate people to know if they are actually family at the border. Ignorance and open borders only allow for this to happen more. Human Trafficking at the border needs to stop and ending illegal border crossings is the only way to do it.
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